Our Sun is our closest star to our Earth. It is at least 4.5 billion years old. Without the Sun, the Earth would not be able to support life.

Scientists who have been studying the Sun have come to know a lot about it. They study the Sun at the time of eclipse. Now, what is an eclipse? An eclipse occurs when the Moon comes between the Earth and the Sun. As a result, the Sun is partially covered. This is the time when they can study about flares, prominences and the Sun’s corona too.

Sometimes, the feather-like substances which are actually streams of gases appear on the surface of Sun. these feathers are called prominences.

These are enormous and unpredictable explosions occurring in the Sun’s atmosphere. It can throw billions of tones of the Sun’s material into space.

Scientists keep on sending probes to study the Sun more closely. A satellite called Solar Max investigated the solar constants in 1980s. Ulysses was launched in 1990 to study the poles of the Sun.

The diamond ring effect during solar eclipse. The Sun is surrounded by the cloud of hot gases called corona.

Flares are short lived bursts of heat and light.

Prominences are only visible during total solar eclipse or by using special scientific instruments.